Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of Prime Minister’s Address through Video Conference on the occasion of inauguration of Bahadurgarh-Mundka Metro Rail Line
First of all many-many congratulations to all of you, to the people of Haryana and Delhi for operationalization of Bahadurgarh-Mundka Metro Line.
Today, Bahadurgarh in Haryana has been linked with Delhi Metro. After Gurugram and Faridabad, Bahadurgarh is third large area of Haryana which has now been connected with Delhi Metro. After the public dedication of this line today, the length of Metro Network in Haryana has become 26 kilometers.
Friends,
Everyone who has ever travelled in Delhi Metro is a witness to the fact that how Delhi Metro has changed the lives of people. I myself have several times travelled in Delhi Metro. The people travelling on Bahadurgarh-Mundka line will also experience this thing from today onwards.
People in Bahadurgarhhave been eagerly waiting for the Metrobecause of the rapiddevelopment of industries there. Also, several colleges, institutes and universities are located in Bahadurgarh and a lot of students from Delhi travel to Bahadurgarh daily. Now it will become much easier for the lakhs of entrepreneurs, students and people engaged in different professions in this area to travel to Delhi.
Usually Bahadurgarh has been called the Gateway of Haryana, however, this Metro line has reached here as a Gateway of Development.
When industries will grow, this Metro will make people’s lives easier, new colonies will be established, and new avenues of employment will be created. The relationship between connectivity and development can be properly understood through this metro network.
At present, 280 kilometers long metro line is operational in Delhi. The rapid pace with which it has been expanding, very soonDelhi will be known for having the fifth largest Metro Network after Shanghai, Beijing, London and New York.
Friends, the dream that has been realized in Delhi, the kind of results of unshakable resolvesare being witnessed by the people of Delhi-NCR, the same kind of efforts are made throughout the country.
Earlier the biggest drawback in the Metro related work was that this work was done in every city in a different way. There was no policy for the Metro and the work related to it.And that is why there were no set parameters, no set standards for this thing. Politicians used to decide about the stations as per their liking and the decisions were taken as per the interests of different departments.
Now all these things have been taken into consideration after formulating the first Metro Policy of the country in 2017. Entire transport system of cities has been integrated so that the people don’t have to face problem in going from one station to another or for reaching to their offices or homes. Now, if the Metro is being developed anywhere in the country, it will be developed on the same set of standards.
Friends, it is the commitment of this government to provide a smart, easy, affordable and clean public transport system in the cities as per the requirements of the 21st century.
Today, the Metro Network has been expanded into the 12 cities of the country. State governments have been encouraged to connect different cities of the country. In addition to this metro coaches are also being manufactured in the country.
Modern plants have been set up in Vadodara in Gujarat and Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The government has amended the procurement policy to encourage the Make in India scheme in metro projects and now it has been made compulsory to use nearly 75% of the items that have been produced in India.
Friends,
Metro Network has been an excellent example of our international relations and cooperation. Earlier several countries of the world helped us in the development of metro network and now India is gearing up to supply metro coaches to several countries of the world.
Not only international relations but it is also an excellent example of this thing that how the cooperative federalism works. Today, ifmetro network is being developed in any state of the country, it is being developed with the active participation of the centre and state governments.
Friends,
If we talk about Delhi-NCR then the speed with which the Metro Network has been developed, it has removed the requirement of 6 lakh vehicles per day.
The metro has saved people’s money and time and it has also done the job of reducing pollution. In addition to the metro, the government has been working to revamp the entire transport system in Delhi-NCR and develop it as per the requirements of the people.
The work on regional rapid transport system is also being done to connect Delhi to Sonipat, Alwar and Meerut through high speed rail.
In addition to this, the work on building a network of expressways around Delhi is also being done at a fast speed. People have been making effort to finish that work.
A few days ago, I have dedicated to the public the first leg of this project - Eastern Peripheral Express way. The work on Western Peripheral Express way in Haryana is also being done. The peripheral expressway has reduced the number of small and large vehicles passing through Delhi by 25-30%.
While it has definitely reduced traffic, it has also brought down a major factor responsible for pollution.
Brothers and sisters,
A new and smart infrastructure for a New India is a commitment of this government.
The maximum investment in the infrastructure related to roads, railways, waterways has been made in the last four years. Emphasis has been placed on improving connectivity from Kargil to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamakhya. Whether these are the longest tunnels or the largest bridges, all these things are completed in time one after another. The work forbuilding 35,000 kilometers long modern highways has been started in the country under the Bharat Mala project.
In the near future, while on the one hand more than 100 waterways, bullet trains will bring about a major change in the country’s transport system on the other hand small airports being developed in small cities will help the people’s courage to reach to the skies. This modern infrastructure will help our cities to become the centre of growth in the 21st century. The more infrastructure will be strengthened in different parts of the country, the more convenient the connectivity will become, the more support different modes of transport will provide to each other the more easier the lives of people will become, the more opportunities for employment creation and business will be created.
Friends,
Active participation of all of you, the common people, is extremely essential in the efforts made by the government. Otherwise, it is not possible.
Please come forward, let us make even more efforts for the development of this infrastructure which is being built for a New India.
Once again many-many congratulations to the people of Haryana and Bahadurgarh, may our citizens take advantage of it and get rid of personal vehicles.
I conclude my speech.
Thank you very much.